Colds and Flu

As winter is now upon us it's the season of the colds and flu but can you tell if you a cold or are suffering from flu here is a few symptoms to look out for

COLDS AND FLU

How can you tell whether it is a heavy cold or the flu? Here is the difference:

Headache - prominent in flu, but rare in a cold.

Fever - frequent and sudden in flu; rare in a cold.

Fatigue - extreme in flu and can last 2-3 weeks; there is only mild fatigue with a cold.

General aches - common and often severe in flu; slight in a cold.

Runny nose - occasionally in flu; common with a cold.

Cough - common with flu and can become severe; only mild to moderate in a cold.

Sore throat - sometimes with flu; common with a cold.

 CAUSES

The cause is a variety of viruses.

But somtimes the person has allowed himself to become run down so that the virus was able to take hold.

Some factors which lower the body's resistance to virus
infection are fatigue, overexposure to cold, recent or
present infections, allergic reactions, wrong eating, and inhalation of dust or gas, overeating, alcohol consumption.

The common cold is a pre disease and is the reaction the body has when fighting back and gaining control to bring everything back to normal like you would if you had just had a party everything needs cleaning up and thats what your body is doing

There is no one stop cure for a cold virus as it can change size and shape, making it hard to produce a suitable vaccine. There are more than a 100 different viruses which can cause colds.

Symptoms genraly last for 7 to14 days regardless of what you take for them.
The incubation period is very short about 1 to3 days, instead of 10 to 21 days for most viruses.

A cold can seems to suddenly appear out of nowhere. You get a tingling in the nose and throat, nasal mucus, and a scratchy throat; this is when you should take your self to bed and rest before the coughing, weakness, and fever start and allow your body to do it's house keeping.

Take vitamin C, zinc, and garlic and plenty of fluids hot lemon drinks try to avoid asprin as this can have side affects some herbal teas may help like rose hips, peppermint, chamomile, golden seal, slippery elm and ginger.

A hot bath with 5 or 6 drops of Eucalyptus oil is helpful to clear the head you can also put 5 or 6 drop of Eucalyptus oil in a cup of boiling water avoid burning yourself put a towel over your head and breath in the vapours to help clear sinus congestion.

Prevention is better than cure so eat and sleep properly exercise and try not to let your body get rundown also aviod sharing food and cutlery with someone that has a cold.

Paul Cass
Health and Beauty information .com